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Speaker John Boehner’s decision to hire a well-known advocate of immigration reform is raising concerns among the House’s most ardent opponents of legislation. Boehner this week announced he was bringing on Rebecca Tallent, a former chief of staff to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who has worked on multiple comprehensive proposals that would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. The move drew strong praise from immigration reform advocates, who viewed it as a clear signal Boehner intends to bring a bill to the House floor in 2014. But for some opponents of an immigration overhaul, the hire is seen...

House Speaker John Boehner's new staffer in charge of immigration policy has significant experience in drafting immigration legislation and pushing for reform. She wouldn't be coming to Boehner's office if House Republicans weren't serious about doing something on the issue. What that is remains to be seen. Rebecca Tallent, former chief of staff to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will be coming to the speaker's office from the Bipartisan Policy Center, where she has served as director of immigration policy. Her move "is affirmation of [Boehner's] strong desire to move legislation in 2014," BPC's immigration task force cochairman, former Mississippi Gov....

Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, is taking on a new and formidable immigration policy director, a sign that he could be more serious about passing immigration legislation than his critics suggest. Rebecca Tallent, who currently serves as director of immigration policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, will join Boehner’s staff on Wednesday. Before joining the BPC, Tallent held several senior staff positions with Sen. John McCain, including chief of staff. During her time with McCain, she helped the Arizona Republican draft a handful of immigration overhaul measures, including the last big push McCain made with the late Sen. Edward M....

...my nutshell case for why McCain was functionally a Democrat: As a war hero who's hawkish on foreign policy, he more than matches Bush on the military front. As a reform-minded foe of corporate welfare, Big Tobacco, and the Republican right, he is peerless. McCain is Bush's most vociferous critic, voted against the president's tax cut, forced his hand on campaign finance reform, and federalized airport security in the face of White House opposition. He has co-sponsored numerous bills with Democrats--many of them in the presidential-aspirant class--requiring background checks at gun shows (Lieberman), a patients' bill of rights (Edwards), better...

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(CNN) - At a Tea Party rally Sunday on the U.S.-Mexico border in support of tough immigration laws, Arizona Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth slammed his opponent, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and turned McCain's words back on the veteran senator. On a ranch in Hereford, Arizona, and with the border fence visible several hundred yards behind him, Hayworth also praised Arizona's new immigration law that was signed by the state's governor, who has spent the last two days campaigning with McCain. Pulling a word from a McCain letter on immigration which first surfaced in April, Hayworth said it was time to...

In a rare show of bipartisan cooperation, Senate Republicans on Thursday night joined their Democratic colleagues to pass legislation boosting border security funding by $600 million, including money for 1,500 new border personnel, a pair of unmanned drones and operating bases. The Senate passed the Democrat-sponsored bill by unanimous consent and forwarded it to the House, which passed a similar $700 million proposal last week and could take up the Senate measure when members return for a special session next week. The Senate bill would not add to the deficit - a concern of many Republicans - but would be...

The Obama administration is considering it. The idea is to have the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) just start handing out green cards to illegals. USCIS, a part of the Obama administration, outlines the ideas in a draft memo that includes the possibility of issuing green cards to tens of thousands who entered the country illegally. "In the absence of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, CIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations," the memo advises.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) spent more than $10M on his primary battle against ex-Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R), according to his 2ndQ campaign finance report, leaving him with a much narrower financial advantage in the GOP primary than he once enjoyed. McCain has spent a total of $15.7M this cycle, according to FEC reports, and he has just $1.78M left to spend before the Aug. 24 GOP primary. Hayworth had $922K in the bank, his reports showed. "Senator McCain takes every campaign seriously, and this race is no exception. Senator McCain is proud of the statewide support he's received from Arizonans,...

PHOENIX - In the race for U.S. Senate, J.D. Hayworth is accusing John McCain of flip-flopping on the issue of illegal immigration. Does McCain want border security or a path to citizenship for illegals -- or both? McCain once championed comprehensive immigration reform that would allow people here illegally a path to citizenship. "The present situation with broken borders and 11 million people that are in America without citizenship is unacceptable," he said on the campaign trail. Now McCain says border security must come first before tackling what to do with the 12 million illegals already living in the u.s.....

The cost of harboring illegal immigrants in the United States is a staggering $113 billion a year -- an average of $1,117 for every “native-headed” household in America -- according to a study conducted by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

Senator John McCain's record as a staunch conservative came under fire during his Yuma town hall meeting Friday evening at Booth Machinery, prompting the senator to fire back in his own defense with a level of fiery passion reminiscent of his younger days. “It seems to me that every time you run for election you tack very much to the right…” Steve Replogle, a member of the Colorado River Tea Party, told McCain during the town hall. “I have personal questions in regards to your positions. You have at times advocated cap and trade… amnesty, and the McCain-Feingold Bill made...

“Senator Obama is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.” – John McCain – Oct. 10, 2008, Town Hall in Lakeville, Minn. U.S. Senator John McCain must be confident Arizona voters have amnesia regarding his approval of Barack Obama’s presidential timber. Never mind that Barry Soetoro, aka, Barack Obama had a prolonged record of close associations involving socialists, communists, militants, racist clerics, labor unions, ACORN and the corrupt Chicago political machine reminiscent of Boss Tweed’s Tammany Hall. Forget how Senator McCain continues to confer the President...

<p>TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Gov. Charlie Crist, who's running an independent campaign for Senate, says providing illegal immigrants a path to citizenship will help keep Social Security solvent.</p>

A top Senate negotiator on climate change believes that a sudden turn by Senate Democrats to immigration could “destroy” any hope of a major climate and energy bill this year. “This comes out of left field,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), after hearing that Democratic leaders may now push immigration reform ahead of a climate bill. “I’m working as earnestly as I can to craft climate and energy independence, clean air and jobs, and now we’re being told that we’re going to immigration. We haven’t done anything to prepare the body of the country for immigration.” “This destroys the ability...

For most lawmakers, DWI stands for “driving while intoxicated.” For Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), DWI stands for “driving while illegal.” In an appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Tuesday Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that illegal immigrants were intentionally causing car accidents along state freeways. (snip) "Look, our border is not secured. Our citizens are not safe," he said.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on Thursday the operations of drug cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border are tantamount to war and urged a top military commander to deploy high-tech military systems to monitor activities in the area. "I can make an argument that we are [engaged] in combat on the border," McCain said during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which was considering the nomination of Vice Adm. James "Sandy" Winnefeld Jr. to head U.S. Northern Command. He called the $65 billion-per-year drug trade in that region, which has resulted in murders on both sides of the border,...

PHOENIX (AP) — Cattle rancher Rob Krentz often helped illegal immigrants he found stranded on his sprawling Arizona ranch. Then two weeks ago, he and his dog were gunned down shortly after he reported spotting someone who appeared to be in trouble. Foot tracks were followed from the shooting scene about 20 miles south, to the Mexico border, and authorities suspect an illegal immigrant. The killing of the third-generation rancher has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate as politicians cite the episode as further proof that the U.S. must do more to secure the violent U.S.-Mexico border. (snip) Krentz's...

McCAIN: My view is you need a physical fence. But we all know that unless physical fences are surveilled, and then people just punch holes in them. And so I saw in Iraq on my visit there that their ability to serveil areas is that we have the technology now. (snip) McCAIN: After the border is secured, then obviously we have to address the issue of the 12 million people who are still in this country illegally. I don't know what ... American public opinion will take. But one of the key elements, as was in our previous legislation, is...

U.S. Sen. John McCain is blasting his challenger J.D. Hayworth, saying he’s mischaracterized his record to score political points in the wake of the murder of a Douglas rancher over the weekend. Former Congressman Hayworth is blasting back, meanwhile, saying McCain’s record on immigration is out of step with what Arizona wants. Speaking on a Phoenix broadcast station about the case of Robert Krentz, who was believed to have been shot and killed by an illegal immigrant, Hayworth said he has long advocated for a military presence on the border while McCain worked on an “amnesty bill” with former U.S....